I searched for this, but didn't see it. If posted already, please merge threads:

A Minnesota man who allegedly killed two suspected burglars Thanksgiving Day and kept their bodies in his home overnight before reporting the deaths to police said he fired "more shots than I needed," according to a criminal complaint.

Byron David Smith, 64, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder today for the shooting deaths of Haile Kifer, 18, and Nicholas Brady, 17. Smith appeared at a preliminary hearing in court today but did not enter a plea.

The Little Falls man is being held on $2 million bail and his attorney, Gregory Larson, did not respond to a request for comment.

Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel said "a person has every right to defend themselves and their homes, even employing deadly force if necessary."

In this case, however, authorities said they believe Smith crossed the line.

A Little Falls man charged with murdering two teenagers who apparently broke into his home on Thanksgiving Day had a job that involved overseeing technical security issues for U.S. embassies.

Byron Smith was a security engineer for the U.S. Department of State. He retired six years ago.

Retired State Department political officer William Davnie tells Minnesota Public Radio News that security engineers oversee construction and repair work for U.S. embassy buildings and consulates. They do not patrol grounds like security officers, but instead focus on technical issues such as building layout and alarms.

Davnie says security engineers are "security conscious" people, and work to protect buildings so spies and terrorists cannot break in.

"It is inconceivable that the framers - seeking to provide Americans with a means to resist tyrannical government - would fashion a right that can be exercised only in the context of a militia that is under government control." Robet A. Levy

He should of called the police immediately. Now he has to prove he didn't shoot them elsewhere and move the bodies.

That's not so much the issue. The issue is that he shot them in the body, then finished them off with a shot to the neck/head execution style. That is what he's being charged with and why murder2 as I understand it.

The law is ass-backwards. If it is allowable to kill someone by shooting a potential criminal in the chest, why does a shot to the head/neck suddenly count as "murder"??? The result is the same

While I think it is very odd that he kept the bodies overnight, the extra shots to the head/neck shouldn't mean shit.

This makes as much sense as "limited capacity" magazines.

"As Kifer gasped for air, Smith dragged her body next to Brady's, according to the complaint, and placed a handgun under her chin and fired what he told police was a "good clean finishing shot" that went "under her chin up into the cranium."

I'm pretty sure he went beyond justifiable force according to the Law in MN. Maybe Shawn could clarify that.

Doing that here would reap the same result.

I think the main issues are he moved the bodies, the threat was stopped, by him adding the "good clean finishing shot" cooked his goose.

"It is inconceivable that the framers - seeking to provide Americans with a means to resist tyrannical government - would fashion a right that can be exercised only in the context of a militia that is under government control." Robet A. Levy

The law is ass-backwards. If it is allowable to kill someone by shooting a potential criminal in the chest, why does a shot to the head/neck suddenly count as "murder"??? The result is the same

While I think it is very odd that he kept the bodies overnight, the extra shots to the head/neck shouldn't mean shit.

This makes as much sense as "limited capacity" magazines.

The law amounts to limited "deadly force" once they are not a threat to you and If you don't do a good job of it with your first shots you are expected to call an ambulance. With the delay in reporting it and the shot under the chin the prosecuter would have no choice but to go after him, Once the public got wind of it.

"As Kifer gasped for air, Smith dragged her body next to Brady's, according to the complaint, and placed a handgun under her chin and fired what he told police was a "good clean finishing shot" that went "under her chin up into the cranium."

I'm pretty sure he went beyond justifiable force according to the Law in MN. Maybe Shawn could clarify that.

Doing that here would reap the same result.

I think the main issues are he moved the bodies, the threat was stopped, by him adding the "good clean finishing shot" cooked his goose.

Pretty much sums it up. This site is pretty slanted. But, gives some information:

"As Kifer gasped for air, Smith dragged her body next to Brady's, according to the complaint, and placed a handgun under her chin and fired what he told police was a "good clean finishing shot" that went "under her chin up into the cranium."

I'm pretty sure he went beyond justifiable force according to the Law in MN. Maybe Shawn could clarify that.

Doing that here would reap the same result.

I think the main issues are he moved the bodies, the threat was stopped, by him adding the "good clean finishing shot" cooked his goose.

The law amounts to limited "deadly force" once they are not a threat to you and If you don't do a good job of it with your first shots you are expected to call an ambulance. With the delay in reporting it and the shot under the chin the prosecuter would have no choice but to go after him, Once the public got wind of it.

Smith told police he was sitting in his basement Nov. 22 -- Thanksgiving Day -- when he heard a window break upstairs and then footsteps, according to the complaint.

.
He first saw the feet, then the legs, then the hips of the intruder. Smith said he believed he fired twice at Brady with a Ruger Mini-14 rifle, causing the teen to tumble down the stairs, according to the complaint.

Smith then dragged the body on a tarp to his basement workshop.

Several minutes later, he told police, he heard more footsteps and waited until he saw Kifer's hips as she descended the staircase.

"After shooting the person, she tumbled down the steps," according to the complaint. "Smith stated that he tried to shoot her again with the Mini-14 but the gun jammed."

At this point, he told police, Kifer laughed at him, describing it as a short laugh because she was in pain. But he said it "made him upset," the complaint said.

"If you're trying to shoot somebody and they laugh at you, you go again," he told police, according to the complaint.

As Kifer gasped for air, Smith dragged her body next to Brady's, according to the complaint, and placed a handgun under her chin and fired what he told police was a "good clean finishing shot" that went "under her chin up into the cranium."

"It is inconceivable that the framers - seeking to provide Americans with a means to resist tyrannical government - would fashion a right that can be exercised only in the context of a militia that is under government control." Robet A. Levy

"It is inconceivable that the framers - seeking to provide Americans with a means to resist tyrannical government - would fashion a right that can be exercised only in the context of a militia that is under government control." Robet A. Levy

"It is inconceivable that the framers - seeking to provide Americans with a means to resist tyrannical government - would fashion a right that can be exercised only in the context of a militia that is under government control." Robet A. Levy

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